Does he play every instrument on Mysterious Production except drums/percussion? I see a couple of guest musicians credited, yet nowhere does it specifically state that A.B. played everything else.

If so, damn.

Phil to thread.

He played damn near everything.

He's a bad motherfucker. I was so impressed watching what I got to see of those sessions.

And he's not egotistical at all.

Yes Phil, please...
And one more thing.
Just listening to "Tables & Chairs", I mean really listening to the lyrics for the first time and damn if they didn't bring a huge smile to my face.

Hard to believe he was in Squirrel Nut Zippers.

damn.

he was so damn good when i saw him open up for mmj a couple years ago. just him, a guitar and a violin. he would loop a guitar part, play his violin, whistle, loop his violin, pick his guitar back up and so on.... sounded so damn good.

Wait . . what? He was? Damn, that's weird.

he's beautiful, too.

phil, hook me up, yo.

he's also a northwestern university grad. woot

Why is that hard to believe? Nothing wrong with them and Andrew Bird isn't the only one from the Squirrel Nut Zippers whose put out great solo albums.

I'd say James Mathus "Songs For Rosetta" is AT LEAST the equal of anything Andrew Bird's done.

This album continues to have me in a headlock. I almost want it to end now.

Ill check it out. Its hard to believe because for 99% of the music-listening people (on this board, even) the SNZ are probably a throwaway band. Obviously if you are a connoisseur you may feel different. Anyone else here delved into the Zippers catalog? They may be greatness, but its another thing Ill have to check out.

They put on a good show, way back when. I think I caught them in Athens, or at least part of a show. I had a roommate who was gay for them.

But yeah, that whole revival thing didn't have much gas in it.

just ordered this. i like the clips i heard on amg.

I own a handful of Squirrel Nut Zippers cds which may mean I own them all. I can't say I listen to any of them very often but everyone in that band was talented and I wouldn't call them "throwaway". That they had a hit at all is more surprising than that their mainstream appeal was fleeting. That's more a reflection of the type of music they made though than the quality of it.

I think the genre grew tiresome, which is why I don't really like A.B.'s first couple of albums. He hadn't quite gotten into his own thing yet. But once he did, man is it great.

I gotta give his album a listen soon. I haven't in a while and it's a such great album.

Their album "Hot" is usually good for three appearances per used bin.

What's a better album of his to start with, Weather System Or Mysterious Production Of Eggs? "Lull" has been on my iPod for some time now, but I like...oh fuck, what was it..."Fake Palindromes"! Yeah, that one. ^_^

To tell you the truth, I would get Swimming Hour or Mysterious...before Weather Systems.

I think Weather Systems is really good, but of those three I would recommend it last.

Yeah.

Is it me, or does he sound like a straight version of Rufus Wainwright?

I always hear moments of Jeff Buckley in his voice. I don't know Rufus enough to compare. Maybe so though.

Never thought of that, but it seems like a good paralell.

I played Jeff Buckley for the first time to a friend of mine and he noted that Buckley's voice sounded like Andrew Bird's. I guess I see it, but its hard for me because little compares to Buckley's voice.